Given my focus on the fascinating micro-level interactions that I get involved in every time I read poetry at Zuccotti Park, I'm afraid I've sometimes neglected to portray my sense of touching many spokes of a large and growing wheel. Often, this impression has … [Read more...]

What fun it was to broadcast poetry using the People's Mic at Broadway and Liberty! There were four of us, initially: Alicia, Pam, Darren, and I. Alicia had taken the train in from New Jersey, Pam from Brooklyn, and Darren--my old neighborhood organizing … [Read more...]

What's with all of these left pundits offering advice to the 99%? Repudiate the Democrats forthwith! (columnists for Black Agenda Report). Bear in mind that one can support Obama's re-election, campaign for local Democratic candidates, and be a staunch OWS … [Read more...]

Today I approached Zuccotti Park from a new direction, after taking the E train to its last stop, the one called World Trade Center. My route to the park took me right past the construction at Ground Zero, where the sidewalks are filled with tourists whose … [Read more...]

I've been noticing a funny thing about Occupy Wall Street. It's giving me back the past.Let me explain. A while back I delivered a talk (at Goddard College, where I teach) called "Does a Planet Have a Point of View?" Those remarks have now been printed in a volume … [Read more...]

I read Hart Crane today--sections from The Bridge: the proem "To Brooklyn Bridge," "Cape Hatteras," "The Tunnel," and the final section, "Atlantis" (The Bridge: A Poem by Hart Crane, Liveright, 1970). I will confess that I've never actually been able to read The … [Read more...]

Three things about Zuccotti Park today:1. Everything that counts was still there, after last night's extreme weather ordeal of snow, sleet, and floods of icy water. There were throngs, with drumming, Halloween costumes, a woman on stilts, the usual cast of … [Read more...]

I only froze for about half an hour today. That was the length of time it took to walk to Zuccotti Park from the Rector Street "R" stop, read two Allen Ginsberg poems--"A Supermarket in California" and "America"--have a brief conversation with the Library Comrade, … [Read more...]

It was a good day in Zuccotti Park. The sun was out, which mattered quite a lot after last night's lashing rain, despite frigid temperatures that gradually softened as the sun crept between the highrises. The Mean Cops were out in force, one of them looking about 7 … [Read more...]

There was something very exhilarating about speaking Muriel Rukeyser's visions of "The Outer Banks" into the wind and rain at Zuccotti Park today. I felt them torn from my lips and swallowed up by the elements. Highly unlikely that they would find a listening ear, … [Read more...]